The Sanctuary
by BobWhite
Summary: Full Summary inside. R&R 2 find out more.


_Italics are flashbacks & what Talia hopes to be done._

**The Sanctuary- Part 1:**

The "FREAK!" that's what I had been labeled, officially. But they didn't know me. Ever since I started Hogwarts, I've been an outcast, outsider. More of an outsider than most of the nerds here. They didn't know my dangerous side. The whole school was in for a down right rude awakening. They weren't ready for who I really was. They weren't ready to fight for me. They weren't ready for my WAR! My life. That was my life.

"Hey here comes the freak! What the bloody hell is she doing? Day dreaming about a boy she'll never get?" Draco yelled out & the Great Hall burst out laughing.

For four years I had endured this. Now they got the awakening. The whole school would be learning about the Celtic times (period). Including the village of Dun Strem. Meaning what?

Everyone was doing homework on the Celtic time during lunch. They asked for help. No one asked me for help, even though I had just finished. What was supposed to be a hard assignment for everyone was easy for me.

I put my stuff away, stood up w/everyone looking at me, & left. Ginny ran after me.

"Talia!"  
>I turned around. "Yes."<p>

"Could you please help me? I mean your done & everything. It looks like you know a lot about the Celtic period. By the way, why do you know so much about it?"  
>"Dun Strem."<br>"Yeah, so, what about it?"

"It means 'village of Sorcerers & Sorceresses.' I used to live there. My brother betrayed us for the Romans b/c I inherited our father's powers."

By that time everybody was listening.

"You don't actually think that we believe you. I mean, you would have to travel back & forth through portals to get from here to there. Thanks, but that's not very helpful," Ginny laughed.

"Fine, don't believe me. You'll be sorry." At that I left. They went back to their parchment & books. No one listened to me.

I walked outside. Shadow was waiting & I knew what I had to do. My weapons & clothing were still on him. I was gone w/in minutes. My backpack & uniform lay by the steps. Shadow & I were through the portal & back home w/in a couple minutes. The portal closed behind me right as Hermione, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Draco, & Cho walked outside to see where I had gone. They saw the portal close & ran back inside to tell Dumbledore.

Tully saw & heard a horse approaching. When he looked up, he smiled. I swung down from Shadow's back & he hugged me. Tully spoke first.

"'Bout time you showed up."  
>"What's been going on?"<p>

"We've gotta find a safe place for the Sanctuary. Romans are at our throats again. Think we could just show up at that school you go to & settle down for a couple days till we find a better place?"

"What do Caytlinn, Fergus, Conor, & Molly think?"

"They want to ask you the same thing. You said it yourself before you left. Hogwarts is the safest place to be with Dumbledore as Headmaster."

"We better get going then. Get everyone ready & packed up. Weapons at hand. Pack stuff on the horses. Little kids too. We don't want to leave anyone behind, do we?"

"No, we don't."

Everyone & everything was packed up w/in an hour. We were on the way back to where I had come through the portal. Molly turned to me.

"It'll take a couple hours to get near the place of departure w/everyone. Won't they be mad if you just show up in a couple hours w/a whole bunch of people?"

"No. besides, a couple hours here is like a week there. Not like they even care about me. I've been labeled a freak to everyone. Doesn't matter, though. I'm only going there to get my powers under control."

We reached the portal place & I opened it. Molly, Tully, & I went through first. Students were running toward Hogwarts, afraid of what might happen. By the time everyone was through & I had closed the portal, the grounds were deserted.

I could smell the food coming from the Great Hall & we started forward. The doors were open & we urged the horses forward. By the time we got to the Great Hall, all talking had stopped. We entered & everyone looked our way. Some people screamed something about tattoos, but it was Ginny who saw me.

"Hey look everybody. It's the FREAK! She's back."

Tully started to draw his sword, but I stopped him. I looked at Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, & Cho.

"_You didn't believe me. You're looking at one of the last sorceresses alive. Welcome to my life." At that I handed Shadow's reins to Molly, stood on his back, & jumped into the air. I never landed. I stayed floating. A bluish green glow flowed from my hands. My eyes glowed bluish green. I glowed all over & my hair flowed out behind me. My powers had been conquered. I was back. I lowered myself to the ground & looked at everyone. Not even the Sanctuary had seen my full powers._

But that was just how I imagined our entrance to be. Nothing like that had happened. We just entered the Great Hall & walked the horses up to the teachers table. I asked if the Sanctuary could stay there for a couple days.

"Let me get this straight," Dumbledore looked at me & everyone else that had come with me.

"You want me to put up about 100 women & children, along w/a lot of warriors so they don't get killed by the Romans. The Celtic people are dead & have been dead for 100's of years."

"Yet they are standing right in front of your eyes. How convenient. The women & children under 12 will stay here during the day. Kids 13+ along w/me & the warriors will go in & out of the portal to fight the Romans & make sure they don't find out where we are staying. We will also be looking for a more permanent place to keep the Sanctuary."  
>"Why do kids 13+ get to fight?" Ron asked.<p>

"B/c they've been prepared. They know how to fight. They start to learn, when they turn 8, how to use a sword. Our training starts earlier than magic folk b/c we've always had to fight to stay alive. I'm only going here so I can get my powers under control. Become the sorceress I know I am. Besides I plan on rebuilding Dun Strem once I get the shield up & running right. I have a personal problem to deal with in the Roman Army," I turned to the warriors. "If you come by a soldier named Brian, tie him up & bring him here. I'll personally kill him. He's a traitor. Killed my whole village by letting the Romans in."  
>"What are you going to do to him?" Molly asked.<p>

"Chop his head off while he's still breathing."

The whole Wizarding School gasped. Who would kill their own brother?

"Why the bloody hell are you going to kill your brother?" Hermione asked.

I turned toward the Gryffindor table.

"You didn't listen to me last week, did you?"

She & everyone else shook their heads no.

"And you obviously didn't listen to me a couple minutes ago, did you?"

Again they shook their heads no.

"**NO**! You didn't. I **AM** the only living sorceress left. I used to live in Dun Strem, but my older brother Brian betrayed us. He let a lot of Roman soldiers into our village. I'm the **ONLY** one that survived. The soldiers grabbed me & sold me to a man w/2 wives. I was his sex-slave for four months before I tried to kill myself. I stabbed myself in the side, but I lived. I healed myself & pretended to be dying. My master threw me out into the backyard for the wolves to eat me. That's when I grabbed the reins of one of his horses, a satchel of food, & hopped onto the horse. When my master heard the horse's hooves moving away from his home, he ran outside, only to get his head chopped off. One of his wives had hated seeing him rape me everyday& made sure the satchel & horse were waiting for me to get a fast getaway. I never got to thank her b/c a soldier came about 2hrs. later & killed them both along w/their kids ages 4-11. The vendetta hasn't been paid in full yet, but it will. Believe me it will," I stopped & turned to Tully.

"We better get some rest. I'll take first watch w/Molly. We'll be outside. Every 3 hours is the mark where another guard stands post. Make sure you stay awake. Romans can sneak up w/out making any noise if they don't have on their armor. If they do, you'll be able to hear it. Keep the horn w/you at all times. If when you/we hear the horn, we'll come w/swords & bows & arrows. Hopefully Brian doesn't know how to open the portal."

Women & children moved about putting sleeping robes down. Molly & I grabbed our robes, some apples from the basket, & turned our horses around & headed back outside, weapons & all. Catlin watched us go, and then turned to Conor.

"Do you think they'll find us tonight? Shouldn't we keep everyone here so we can protect them?" "Cat, they're witches & wizards. They can protect themselves. 'Sides don't they sleep in towers & dungeons where they'll be safer then us? Just sleep w/your weapons close to you. If the horn blows then its _war!"_

Everyone had been moving toward their houses. Now they stopped the word "war." Not knowing if it was true or not, everyone dispersed to their houses. Around breakfast the next morning, the horn blew. The 13+ and the warriors were outside w/in a couple of seconds. The fight only lasted 3 hours, but everyone had been held in the Great Hall after breakfast. Now w/the warriors coming back, one little girl looked for me. Molly had come in w/an injured boy & was applying medicine when Fergus came in.

She stopped what she was doing & looked up. Immediately she moved a space off of the Gryffindor table, making enough room for a human being to be placed.

"What happened, da?"

"Brian's dead, but not before he got a good aim Tals. Took his sword across her chest so fast, I barely caught her as she fell. Cat killed Brian. Tals needs medical attention though. She's lost a lot of blood already. Think you can help her?"

"I'll try da. But I'm not very good. Not as good as Talia is w/her herbs & all."

"Just do your best. If Talia dies, Dun Strem will never be rebuilt. Only Talia knows how to get it up & running again. We need her."

"Lay her down & let's take a look."  
>Fergus laid me down on the Gryffindor table &amp; Molly sucked in her breath. She removed the bandage from my chest. Blood surged from the wound.<p>

"I'll need moss. Get me lots of moss. Hopefully it'll stop the blood flow. She'll be sown for a couple weeks. There's no telling how we'll get the blood that she lost back. I don't even know if she'll wake up. Just go get me some moss. Then I can sew her back up, hopefully."  
>She looked back me &amp; tears sprung to her eyes. She held my hand as she silently prayed.<p>

"Who's Tals?" Cho asked loudly.

"You know her as the freak. Her brother tried to kill her. Let's hope she lives through the night. She's the last one," Molly said.

"What you magic folk don't understand is everything. You think you can fix everything with magic. Talia put her magic behind her when she came home. Her swordsmanship came first. It didn't matter what spell she could use. She didn't use them. She can heal herself, but I don't know if she can w/this wound. It's too deep, deep enough to see her ribs. Just glad the blade didn't puncture her heart. If it had, she'd be dead," Molly stopped & pulled back the bandage. Ferguson gave her the moss. She started to put the moss into my wound. The blood flow stopped. Fergus turned toward everyone.

"You should go back to your dormitories, there's nothing you can do. Just don't go outside. Roman's are still at a standstill. Brian was there General. With him dead, they don't know what to do. They'll kill anyone that goes out there right now. They're trying to hunker down in the forest right now. From what Tully & Conor are saying, Centaurs have killed a lot of them," Fergus turned back to Molly. "How's she doin'?"

"She's starting to heal. She'll be awake in a couple of hours. We can move her to her sleeping robe now. She'll be more comfortable than on a wooden table."  
>"Aren't you going to sew her up?" Ginny asked.<p>

"No, that would be no use. If we sew her wound, we'll never get the moss out. Besides as she starts to heal herself, the moss will start to push its way out of the wound, which is good, very good. If she heals herself all the way, this'll be the worst wound she's survived ever."

"How is it that she can heal herself? I mean, only Madam Pomfrey can do that. She's the nurse here, you should let her look the freak," Neville said.

"Yeah right. Tals would want to 'ave wanted to be healed by medicine she studied. Herbs & spices are what she uses to treat herself, as well as others, like us. We can't rely on magic all the time. Besides if we do that, we'll be as weak as you guys are. Romans look for any type of weakness they can find. Tals isn't always there to help us, so we use our swordsmanship to stay alive. Besides, magic is for wimps. Not saying that Tals is a wimp. She'll be better in no time at all."

Most of them were glaring her. By that time everyone was back. One horse had a body on it. Harry looked it when Cat pushed it off the horse roughly.

"You don't even treat your own dead w/respect!" Harry exclaimed.

"Ha, he's not one of our own. No, as soon as Talia is better, we're going to let her burn the body of her brother. By tomorrow, he should be awake," Conor said.

"But I thought Fergus said that Cat killed him?" Fred asked.

"Yeah right, Tals made a potion last night. It's a sleeping potion that'll last for twelve hours. She dipped all the darts in the potion & let them dry. She tried it on an 8-year-old girl that is just waking up now, by the looks of it. The dart hit Brian & he hit the ground," Catlin answered.

Molly looked up from my side. Ginny & a couple other kids had been watching her. Molly walked up to Conor & Catlin.

"We have a problem."

"What is it?" Conor asked.

"I hate to admit it, but we need magic," a gasp went through the hall. "Her heart is slowing down. By morning, she'll be dead. Her powers are fading as well. She's lost too much blood, I'm afraid. She looks paler, too. When da brought her in, she had color. Now she doesn't have any. We can't let her die."

Dumbledore stood up & walked over to me. He magiced up a stretcher & put me on it. Then, while walking next to it, moved toward the door. He spoke to them over his shoulder.

"We'll be in the hospital wing."

The little girl that had been looking for me stood up & ran after him. She grabbed his cloak & started screaming at him.

"Leave my mommy alone, you big bully. She didn't do anything to you. Leave her alone. Leave her alone, please!"

Molly was her side w/in a couple seconds. She picked the girl up & looked her straight in the eye.

"This man is going to help your mommy okay, Ilena? All she needs is magic to help her. We'll go see her later okay?"

Ilena nodded & clung to Molly.

"How is it that the freak has a daughter? She's only 16." Dean Thomas said.

Tully spoke up. "Remember last night? When she was telling you about her master? She got away when she was 9. She was 8 months pregnant. Ilena was the outcome. A nice girl. She knows that the Roman army wants all Celtic people dead. She's not afraid of death. None of us are. When we're fighting, we know that there is a chance that we won't come back alive. That there's a chance we'll be killed. We go to battle w/faith that we'll meet on the other side again. Like some say, another dimension."  
>"We live our lives like anyone else. Except that it's harder than magic folk. We'll talk tomorrow. We need to get some rest," Conor stated.<p>

Professor Flitwick locked the front door so no one could get. By morning, I was awake. The wound in my chest was gone.

Molly, Fergus, Catlin, Connor, Tully, & Ilena were sitting by my bed. Ilena was in my arms.

"So, now that everyone knows I have a daughter, what do you think they'll do?"

"Nothing, we aren't going to do anything. It's no wonder your homework's done before you go home. You can't take it home. Books are no use there. They'll just get lost. But tell me, where do you get your books from?" Hermione asked as she walked.

"They used to be my fathers. I found them in the trunk at the end of my bed. I guess Dumbledore wanted me to have them. My father graduated from Hogwarts, so I knew there was a good chance I would come here."

"So you are a witch. Dumbledore said you only become a sorcerer or sorceress when you master all of the magic in the world. I guess your father did that."

"Nope, he had his books to help him out. All our weapons & personal possessions were buried 3 days before the Romans attacked. Brian didn't know b/c he was out hunting at the time. That's why everyone was so defenseless. I'm sorry they didn't kill me. I guess Brian knew that he would need me to get back into Dun Strem."

"But I thought you said the shield didn't work?" Ilena asked.

"It works. It's just only a sorceress or sorcerer can open the invisible gate. It's mainly a door in a huge dome that held our village along with our fields. The animal pens were also inside the dome. I haven't had time to go back yet. I need to though. I need to see what's left. I need to visit the dead. They weren't buried all. But I hope the magic my father put on the dome did what it was supposed to do."

"The dome had another purpose than to just protect?" Harry asked.

Harry, Ron, Draco, Cho, Ginny, Dean. Crabbe, Goyle, & Seamus had just come in. Ginny & Draco were dating to the utmost displeasure of her brothers, Hermione, & Harry. But Harry was finally dating Cho.

I rolled my eyes & looked around for Madame Pompfrey. I was surprised she wasn't shooing people out.

"Yah, it was supposed to burry dead people if no one else could."

Two hours later, we all came down for lunch. After lunch, Conor & Fergus hauled Brian outside. Kids were looking out windows; were on the front steps of the castle, watching to see what was going to happen.

Brian was tied to a steak w/straw & dried grass leaning against it. The remaining soldiers were herded out of the forest by the centaurs. There weapons had been taken from them. The centaurs had their bow & arrows at ready. I grabbed the torch.

"Time to say your final goodbye, Brian. Hope you like hell. I could've sent you to Azkaban, but that's too good for you. This is a whole lot better. Unlike, mom, dad, & the rest of the village who are in heaven, you'll go to HELL where no wants to go." I put the torch to the grass & watched it go up in flames.

The centaurs let their arrows fly. The Romans were dead w/in a couple minutes. The arrows went through there necks. Brian was screaming for mercy, but with one wave of my hand, his lips were stitched shut. W/in an hour he was dead. We took all the bodies back through the portal & left them to be found.

At dinner that night, Ilena & some of her friends were running around the Great Hall. Plans were being made to travel to Dun Strem w/some of the Hogwarts students (on their brooms) for protection. Once at Dun Strem, I would open the gate & everyone would journey in, of course we still had to get permission from their parents.

"Besides," I said. "All we need are Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Cho, Dean & well me. Not like we need everyone to keep us safe. The magic folk have the power to fly & we have swords, bows & arrows, & a very pist-off Celtic woman. What more do we need?"

**! The End! **

P.S. 3 weeks later the Sanctuary was safe inside the walls of Dun Stem. Hogwarts students helped dig up all the weapons & personal possessions of my village. I went back to Hogwarts to finish the year. I brought back my fathers book the end of the years. Students said they would like to visit during the summer. Their parents agreed. Draco & Ginny split up to the pleasure of the whole Gryffindor house, but Harry & Cho were still dating. The Romans never bothered us unless we went out to hunt.

P.P.S. Review & tell me if you want me to continue onto another story. **By yawls!**

**R&R PLEASE!**


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